The Consecration of Temple Mayor VIIn the 13th century the Aztecs migrated to central Mexico.  Unwel

The Consecration of Temple Mayor VIIn the 13th century the Aztecs migrated to central Mexico.  Unwelcome anywhere else in Mexico because of their warlike ways, the Aztecs were forced to inhabit a small island in the middle of swampy Lake Texcoco.  With ingenuity and brilliant engineering they had turned the swampy island into the city of Tenochtitlan, which would become one of the largest cities in the world.  By the late 15th century the Aztecs had far expanded beyond their city, conquering a mighty empire that dominated central Mexico.As the Aztec Empire expanded, so too did their need for larger religious infrastructure.  At the center of the city was the Pyramid of Tenochtitlan, atop of which sat the Temple Mayor.  The Temple Mayor served as the center of the Aztec religion, and as the Aztec Empire expanded, the temple itself was rebuilt, renovated, and expanded as well.  In 1487 Temple Mayor was rebuilt a sixth time under the oversight of Emperor Ahuizotl.  To consecrate the new temple Ahuizotl ordered the sacrifice of over 20,000 victims to the gods Huitzilopochtli, god of war, and Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture.  The victims to be sacrificed were not the Aztecs themselves, but conquered subjects from the many kingdoms and city states that made up the empire.  Every conquered kingdom or city was forced to give a quota of victims, those who refused were destroyed by the Aztec army.The temple priests worked in teams and shifts, sacrificing an average of 1,000 people a day for the next 20 days.  Aztec human sacrifice was a gory and violent death where the priest cut open the chest cavity with an obsidian or flint knife.  He then removed the still beating heart and presented it as a gift to the gods.  As the sacrifices continued the blood flowed throughout the temple until it ran down the stairs of the Tenochtitlan Pyramid.  In 1519, a band of strange foreigners arrived in Tenochtitlan.  Though not as direct as the Aztecs, the Spanish were brutal conquerors as well.  With the aid of superior technology, smallpox, and tens of thousands of disgruntled Mexican natives who were tired of supplying victims for the Aztec’s blood orgies, they quickly conquered the Aztec Empire.  In 1521 the Spanish destroyed Templo Mayor.  Hundreds of years later the foundations of the temple are an important historical site.  There archaeologists have found many important artifacts including sculptures, ceremonial objects, beadwork, obsidian/flint knives, and the remains of sacrifice victims.  -- source link

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